Anwar Cleared in Malaysia Sodomy Trial; 5 Hurt in Explosions

By Ranjeetha Pakiam and Manirajan Ramasamy -
Jan 9, 2012

Malaysia opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was acquitted of sodomy by the Kuala Lumpur High Court
after a trial he said was politically motivated, paving the way
for him to contest elections that may be held this year.

The victory caps a second judicial tussle for Anwar, who
was former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s deputy until being
fired when faced with similar allegations in 1998. Anwar was
sentenced to nine years in jail for sodomy and a separate
corruption charge at that time, before being released in 2004
after Malaysia’s highest court overturned the sex conviction.

“I am extremely pleased that I have finally been
vindicated,” Anwar said in a Bloomberg Television interview.
“It came as a surprise. Of course, a pleasant one. Based on
previous evidence, the judiciary is clearly not independent.”

The U.S. welcomed the acquittal. “The ruling reflects
favorably on the independence of Malaysia’s judiciary and
presents an opportunity for all Malaysians to focus on the
future,” State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland said in a
statement.

With the ruling behind him, the next challenge for Anwar is
building support for the ideologically disparate opposition that
he leads, before elections that must be held by June 2013. The
opposition is seeking to improve on its 2008 showing, when it
won five states and held the ruling National Front coalition,
now headed by Prime Minister Najib Razak, to its narrowest
victory in five decades.

Devices Explode

Five people suffered “minor” injuries in three explosions
today outside the courthouse, where supporters of the opposition
leader chanted “Long Live Anwar,” according to a statement on
the police’s Facebook page. Home-made devices containing timers,
ball-bearings, batteries and wires were found after clearing the
crowd, city police chief Mohmad Salleh said in a phone
interview.

“There was no evidence to corroborate” the charges, Judge
Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah said in the Kuala Lumpur High Court.
The court couldn’t exclude the possibility that DNA samples had
been compromised, he said.

Anwar’s family, including his wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail
and their six children, wept and hugged in the court as the
judgment was read. Party members inside the court cheered.

Sodomy is illegal in Muslim-majority Malaysia, even between
two consenting men. The charge carries a sentence of as much as
20 years in prison.

The country’s benchmark stock index, the FTSE Bursa
Malaysia KLCI Index (KLCI), closed 0.5 percent higher, while the
ringgit was down 0.3 percent at 3.1525 per dollar at 5 p.m.
local time.

Investor Reaction

“It’s good for the country and good for the stock
market,” said Scott Lim, who manages 350 million ringgit ($111
million) as chief executive officer at Kuala Lumpur-based MIDF
Amanah Asset Management Bhd. “With this vindication that he is
not guilty, I think it clears people’s doubts. At least there is
no accusation of political intervention.”

The government said the verdict was proof of an independent
judiciary and highlighted steps announced by Najib last year to
boost freedoms repealing laws that allow detention without
trial, while also easing rules restricting media freedom.

“Malaysia has an independent judiciary and this verdict
proves that the government does not hold sway over judges’
decisions,” Malaysian Information, Communications and Culture
Minister Rais Yatim said in a statement. “The current wave of
bold democratic reforms introduced by Prime Minister Najib Razak
will help extend this transparency to all areas of Malaysian
life.”

Police Report

Anwar’s trial began in February 2010, stemming from a
police report filed by a former aide in 2008 detailing a sexual
encounter in a Kuala Lumpur apartment.

“The case has unnecessarily taken up judicial time and
public funds,” Malaysia Bar Council President Lim Chee Wee said
in an e-mailed statement today. “The Malaysian Bar hopes that
the attorney general would not pursue any appeal, and will
instead focus valuable resources of the Attorney General’s
Chambers on more serious crimes.”

Anwar, 64, didn’t run in the March 2008 national poll
because an earlier corruption conviction barred him from holding
office until April of that year.

“It’s good for the opposition in the sense that Anwar can
stand as a candidate in the next general election,” said Ong Kian Ming, a political analyst at UCSI University in Kuala
Lumpur. “But it’s also bad for the opposition in the sense that
they will not be able to benefit from a sympathy vote.”

‘Colonial-Era Law’

Anwar’s latest two-year trial has been criticized by
outside observers as politically motivated. New York-based Human
Rights Watch in a Dec. 22 report called on Malaysia to “revoke
its colonial-era law criminalizing consensual sexual acts
between people of the same sex” and to drop the case against
Anwar.

“Anwar Ibrahim was acquitted on a charge that should have
never been brought in the first place,” Phil Robertson, deputy
Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in an e-mailed
statement released today by the organization. “Hopefully the
verdict sends a message to the Malaysian government to put this
matter to rest.”

Gore to Branson

Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, former U.S. Deputy
Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz and billionaire Richard Branson have criticized the use of the law against the
opposition chief.

The People’s Alliance coalition led by Anwar includes his
People’s Justice Party, the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party and the
Democratic Action Party. Some Pan-Malaysian members espouse the
implementation of Islamic law, while the Democratic Action
Party’s secretary-general is Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng,
Malaysia’s only ethnic-Chinese state leader.

Najib announced a budget in October that sparked
speculation about an early vote. The plan gives cash to low-
income families, raises civil servants’ pay and boosts spending
on railways to spur growth at a time when global economic risks
cloud the outlook for Malaysian exports. He said Dec. 3 that
preparations had begun for an election.

Najib’s plan is “to sway the electorate with handouts,
which we’ve begun to see in increases in public servant pay and
handouts to retirees,” said Johannes Lund, a Singapore-based
analyst at Control Risks. “We’re probably going to see more of
that as election plans go ahead.”